The Questioning Game
by Watch Hound
Summary: As a freelance journalist, her hardest challenge up till now was seducing Kaiba into a little interview. Stupid moneybags, she didn’t have to prove herself to him at all… Now did she?
1. Freedom

The Questioning Game

Shizuka Jounouchi x Seto Kaiba, 5-chaptered story, romance and slight comedy. Shizuka's archetype B activated. (Thanks to Kako-chan and Sakura-chan for this very interesting perspective on Shizuka's behavior )

Summary: As a freelance journalist, her hardest challenge up till now was seducing Kaiba into a little interview. Stupid moneybags, she didn't have to prove herself to him at all… Now did she?

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't bitch.

_Prologue: Pricy Freedom _

Enjoying the comfort of her queen-sized bed, Shizuka Jounouchi turned to the other side and huddled closer underneath her cotton sheets. Little rays of light streamed through the curtains and she groaned loudly when she couldn't hide from them anymore. She sat up straight, blew some strands of brownish red hair out of her face and threw the blankets from her legs. Peeking at the alarm clock with her hazel eyes, the redhead smiled lightly when the dark red digits transformed into precisely twelve o'clock.

Shizuka straightened her short nightgown, went straight towards the mahogany door, walked straight through her living room, which earned her some weird looks from her roommate, Ryou Bakura, and strolled towards the red painted door of her bathroom.

"Good morning, Shizuka-chan." Replying with a slight hhn, she slammed the door behind her closed.

The white-haired man, who was quite used to her morning rituals, concentrated back onto the television screen and laughed slightly at the Japanese sitcom. His chocolate brown eyes widened when he smelled something burning and jumped over the couch, sprinting towards his precious miso soup.

Water cascaded down her back, Shizuka was washing her long tresses with Herbal Essence, the soft scent of peaches and mango's mixing with the steam of the hot water. She enjoyed being a freelance reporter, because of the many perks, such as sleeping out late whenever she was without an interview for some sort of magazine, newspaper or tabloid. Shizuka had established quite the reputation for chasing her clients, or targets as Ryou dubbed them often, down to the very bottom. Because of that, and her excellent manner of speech and etiquette, she was receiving assignments from newspapers such as the Sun or the New York Times.

"Shizuka-chan! We're having Chinese take out today!" The white-haired man's British accent always had a pleasant ring to it and she loved her roommate dearly.

"Did you accidentally burn the soup again?!" Unfortunately he was always to caught up with his soap opera's and sitcoms to actually **watch** what they were going to digest.

"Uhm… Of course not! I.. I wanted to eat Chinese for a long time!" Shizuka laughed slightly, turned the tap of the bath and grabbed wildly for a towel.

"We had Chinese two days ago, Ryou-kun." The British man could almost feel her amused eyes on his back while he was throwing the rest of his failed soup away.

"Alright, I was watching the TV again, I admit. Don't shoot me, miss detective." He felt her bare arms around his neck and stifled a chuckle.

"What would I do without you, mister?"

"Run around naked all day, perhaps." They both laughed out loud and Shizuka released him from her hold before grabbing the wireless phone.

"Sounds darling. You know how I secretly want to be a nudist." Ryou snickered and closed the trash can, afterwards he wiped a strand of white hair out of his eyesight.

Just before Shizuka was going to dial the numbers of her favorite Chinese restaurant, the tune of her cell phone filled the intertwined kitchen and living room. Swiftly throwing the white phone at Ryou, who caught it majestically she rummaged through the cushions of her sofa, searching for her Samsung phone.

"Zuka, I saw your buttocks again." Ryou quickly diverted his eyes while a small blush covered his cheeks, she didn't pay heed to his warnings while her towel was slowly freeing itself from her body.

"Found it!" Shizuka quickly clasped it open and answered with a tired voice.

"Jounouchi-san, I take it you forgot where you placed your cell phone again." Her eyes widened slightly in recognition before replying with an animated voice.

"Takeru-sama! What kind of big shot do you want me to interview this time? The prime minister? Finances? Oh, is it perhaps the cabinet officer of the department of Economics?" She adjusted her position, grabbed her towel close with her free hand and motioned her roommate to turn the TV off.

"Much bigger and no, not Obama-sama. I want you to seduce Seto Kaiba into a quickie." Shizuka nearly dropped her phone and her face went as red as a tomato.

"Excuse me?!" The voice on the other side sighed when he caught up her way of thoughts.

"I want you to interview Seto Kaiba for a front page interview of my little magazine." Somewhere in the distance she heard Ryou choke on the water he was drinking.

Shizuka had never interviewed **him** before, mainly because no one asked her but also because her brother made her swear to never talk to the likes of him. Not to mention that he was also the biggest jerk to ever walk the face of earth. His ego was bigger than the Eiffel tower and the Empire State building together and even on that silly tournament years ago he refused to look her in the eyes. –He could watch her breasts when she bended over however-

"Is your eminent silence a confirmation or a sign for a negative answer? Besides, I'm also hurt that you didn't correct my tiny wordplay of a little magazine." His voice broke her train of thoughts.

Shizuka pondered one moment, this was her chance to shine. Kaiba was a hard person to publish, even the best tabloids couldn't catch him in a swimming suit near some glossy private pool. Besides, she could get a private interview with Gakuto Kamui, also known as Gackt, and cause him to spill his sexual preferences. This couldn't be all this hard, now could it?

"I'll do it. When's my deadline?" Her smile radiated the living room and Bakura was meanwhile cleaning the cooker.

"I want the interview before the 15th of March. Can I count on you?"

"Takeru-sama, have **I** ever let you down?" He grinned, apologized for the doubt and gave her his greetings.

"How in the name of bloody hell, will you interview Seto Kaiba? He hates your brother's guts." Shizuka smiled slightly, still in the illusion of being the greatest reporter ever lived and waved his dispute away.

"That was years ago, he probably doesn't even remember Katsuya." Ryou threw the dirty piece of cloth away and sighed before muttering softly.

"I hope that you know what you're doing, Shizuka-chan." He then grabbed the white wireless phone and dialed the number of the Chinese restaurant.

"Wong Kong restaurant… We are momentarily on a holiday from the 24th of February to the second of March." Bakura twitched with his right eye and Shizuka snorted lightly before bursting into a widespread laughter.

"Bloody hell."

Meanwhile at the gigantic Kaiba Corp tower.

"Hello, Seto Kaiba's office. Please hold." His secretary was picking up phone calls, made the person on the other side wait for at least five minutes before making a note inside her agenda.

The tall brunette in question was sitting behind his enormous glass desk, typing away furiously on his laptop, blackberry and iPhone all the same. Files needed to be send, answered, classified and re-opened before repeating the chorus again in another symphony of fingers clashing on top of the keyboard. His cobalt eyes harbored some sort of passion for the business but even the cracks in that façade were showing and he was growing tired of this job. Not that he'd ever admit such a thing towards himself, let alone in public.

His cell phone rang, a dull beeping noise echoing inside the enormous office, decorated with a solemn Picasso painting. Sighing, Kaiba clasped it open and mumbled an annoyed hello. If he lost more than five important minutes he would ask them to call again later.

"Kaiba-sama… There's a reporter for the prestigious Kyoto's Economics magazine asking for your attention. Should I connect her through for you?"

He hated those press tabloids and glossy little magazines begging for his sexual preferences, and the size of his private parts for that manner. Upon hearing the name of Kyoto's Economics, he reconsidered his valued opinions and decided to hear this pesky reporter out.

"Connect her through.. I'll make this quick."

"Hello, Kaiba-sama. This is Shizuka Jounouchi speaking for Kyoto's Economics. Could I interest you into a front page interview, perhaps?" Her voice sounded almost… **pleasant.**

He furrowed his brows, went over her short introduction again and he was bothered with her last name. Kaiba vaguely recognized it from somewhere..

"Jounouchi.. Jounouchi.. Where have I heard that name befo.." His brain stopped functioning and his eyes widened for a split second.

"Jounouchi?!" He heard her gulp on the other side of the line and he knew instantly that she, whoever she was, was related to that mutt in some sort of manner.

"Kaiba-sama, don't let my name fool you. I can assure you I'm a most prized journalist. Well published.." He didn't even let her finish and clasped his cell phone shut. Like hell, he would ever trust someone with canine blood flowing through their veins.

A few moments later, the cell phone rang again and, annoyed, Kaiba picked up, grunting a quick hello. Didn't they know he was a busy bee?

"The secretary of the mayor wants to discuss something very important with you, Kaiba-sama. I'll connect her through as soon as possible."

Sighing, the brunette wiped his bangs out of his face with his available hand. This better be important.

"How dare you hang up on me while I didn't even finish my sentence, Kaiba-sama." He blinked slowly, this girl certainly had some spunk.

"Jounouchi, leave me the fuck alone. Waste someone else's time and money." He was tempted to hang up again but the next thing she said amazed him slightly.

"Listen, shut your phone again and I'll simply call you again. I don't back down from a challenge, especially not from someone as you." Raising one eyebrow, Kaiba smirked ever so lightly and grinned devilishly.

"You know I could have you arrested easily for a little thing such as harassment, right?" The voice on the other side of the line giggled and continued the conversation.

"I'm sure they know me already at the station, why won't you give me a chance? I'm quite persistent as you have noticed surely by now."

"Stubborn is a better word." Kaiba glanced at the screen of his laptop, quickly scanned the inventory of the mechanical goods and nodded in approval.

"Considering my proposal for an interview?" Her question broke his chain of thoughts and he smirked again.

"In two days, 2 o'clock sharp at the Kaiba Corp tower and don't be late. I hate tardiness. Oh, and Jounouchi? Wear something **nice**. I detest those casual jogging suits commoners like you wear usually." Kaiba could hear her fuming and he resisted the urge to laugh.

"Of course, your highness. I'll wear something nice if you are **nice**. You know, try to trigger those happy emotions and get them from underneath the dust. I'll see you then."

"Brush up your vocabulary, simple words don't make excellent interviews." She had already hung up on him and his smirk increased in size.

"Stupid moneybags! I don't have to prove myself to him at all!" Shizuka huffed and opened the doors of her closet.

"I told you this was a bad idea, Zuka-chan." Ryou stood behind her, trying to help her pick out an outfit for Wednesday.

"I wear whatever the fuck I want. Do you know where I put my jogging suit?" Agitated by the fact of meeting that smug, mean asshole, she was considering stuffing herself with food. After all being an emotional eater ran in the family.

"Just smashing." Her roommate commented before walking out of her room, in search of her choice of clothing.

Review to make this sanity-deprived girl happy.


	2. Sugar

The Questioning Game

Grateful for your reviews.

Chapter summary: She was certain Kaiba was deliberately trying to poison her. He was certain her eloquence was a fraud. Did anyone mention slavery in China ? Uh oh.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't bitch.

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Chapter 1: Two spoons of sugar make Kaiba's coffee go down

Maybe Ryou did have a point when he mentioned that a soft pink Adidas training suit wasn't the best couture to wear for an interview. However, Jounouchi Shizuka had principles and she was bound to stick to them. So to say, the redhead stood in front of the enormous Kaiba Corp tower, dressed in a jogging suit and armed with a black handbag, to crawl inside the opened mouth of the beast and draw as much information out of him as possible. Piece of cake, right?

**Wrong**

"What was your name again, miss?" Shizuka resisted the urge to slam the palm of her hand onto the receptionist desk.

"Jounouchi… Shizuka Jounouchi. I have an appointment with Kaiba-sama." The woman behind the desk blinked her eyes, glanced back at the flat computer screen and scrolled down.

"Ah, of course. S Jounouchi. You're having a solicitation for the application of concierge, right? Normally Kaiba-sama doesn't accept solicitations personally but he made an exception for you." Growling lowly, she made a quick mental note to strangle Kaiba but nevertheless nodded just for the sake of the interview.

Takeru owed her… **BIG.**

Standing inside the cramped elevator with numerous employees, dressed in some sort of futuristic uniform, Shizuka blew a strand of reddish brown hair out of her eyesight. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, frowning at the horrible welcoming of the receptionist and thinking of countless of methods to mutilate Kaiba's handsome face. She had written for the Times for crying out loud.

The elevator doors slid open and a pack of employees rushed out of the small area, leaving one solemn and dumbfounded Jounouchi behind. Without the ancillary employees the elevator was actually quite _spacious_. Comfortable with the silence inside the area, she was pulled out of her possible questions-to-ask by the jingle of her cell phone.

_Shake, shake, shake, shake uh shake it._

"Shizuka speaking. Who is this?" The redhead had already quickly clasped her phone open and chatted away with her friend Anzu.

"You're kidding me, right? Half the price? It's a miracle! I've been dying to get my hands on that dress ever since it came into the shops." She glanced absentmindedly towards the changing numbers above the large doors.

Suddenly a 'ping' made her body jolt and the large doors slid open to reveal a hall towards majestically wooden double doors. Next to the entrance to what was obviously Kaiba's office, Shizuka spotted a smaller desk with a girl with light purple hair behind it. Her hair was pulled in a ponytail with a yellow ribbon if her eyes didn't fail her.

"I have to go now, Anzu. I'll call you back later." She shut her phone and stepped out of the elevator, the soles of her sneakers making faint thuds on the tiles, which were decorated with some sort of ochre-colored symbol.

"Welcome, Jounouchi-san. Kaiba has been expecting you." A big fake smile was plastered onto the secretary's lips and Shizuka was honestly a bit freaked out.

"Wait a minute. Jounouchi S. as in Shizuka?" The redhead forced herself to smile and nodded in affirmation, awkwardly letting her arms drop next to her sides.

"Honda has told me so much about you! You're really pretty! I thought he mentioned you were a freelance journalist. What are you doing here at Kaiba Corp applying for such a lousy job?" Shizuka blinked in order to recuperate from all the information.

"You know Honda-san?" The woman nodded enthusiastically in response.

"I'm his fiancé, Asaka Miho." Shizuka remembered Jounouchi mentioning something about Honda getting hitched to some childhood lover. She was just happy that he wasn't after her ass anymore.

"Of course, Katsuya always mentions you when he talks about Honda." She wondered when this woman would let her talk to the asshole behind the main desk.

"I bet he does. Honda-kun is so nice to me, he even sold his motorcycle just so I could pay for my studies." Miho squealed when she reencountered those memories.

"That's good for you. Uhm, could I please talk to Kaiba-sama now? I'm kind of in a hurry to get this interview done." The purple-haired girl smiled exuberantly, put her hands underneath her desk and, or so Shizuka thought, pushed a button to make Kaiba wary of her attendance.

"Good luck, Jounouchi-san. I'm sure you'll get the job." She gave Shizuka a thumbs up while the doors were automatically opened, Shizuka just sighed in annoyance. Kaiba was sabotaging her, she was sure of it.

"Welcome, Jounouchi." His voice had an evil tune to it and despite of the fabulously decorated office, she didn't feel that assured as she normally felt.

The walls were painted in a light shade of blue, making the room seem much more open and grand. There was Kaiba's large desk in front of the windows, which were equally big as the walls and framed with black-painted metal, and a small paper bin next to the desk. From the corners of her hazel eyes, she noted a bookcase with thick maps and folders, on the other side there was a two-seated sofa, giving the office a more relaxed feeling. Shizuka took in consideration that there might be a hidden TV-screen on that side of the wall, since that was mostly the case with CEO's of his caliber.

His large leather seat was turned to face the window, she could faintly recognize his chestnut strands of hair. Shizuka scraped her throat and desired that he would turn so she could make eye contact. She wasn't afraid of some tall slender man with egomania and a dragon-addiction.

"What exactly did you tell those employees of yours?" An inaudible snicker could be heard if you stood close to the chair, but then again Seto Kaiba didn't _snicker._

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Jounouchi." The chair screeched lightly when he faced her, his cobalt eyes grinning at her with unknown cruelty.

"Let's start, shall we?" The brunette nodded at her statement, placed his elbows on his glass desk and formed a bridge with his fingers.

Shizuka fumbled with the zipper of her handbag, opened the black accessory and pulled out a digital camera. Kaiba merely raised an eyebrow before placing his chin on top of his fingers.

"I hate to make notes and have the chance that I forget to write something important down." Her hazel eyes spotted a dark blue rug with a Blue eyes white dragon on the plain light brown tiles of the floor.

"I'll ask Miho to grab a chair for you. Want some coffee in the mean time as well?"" His offer seemed reasonable and she complied friendly.

The blue-eyed man pressed the button from his intercom and asked his secretary to fetch a chair and a tray of coffee. At the same time Shizuka was setting up the equipment, meaning putting her digital camera on the desk, next to his laptop and the intercom. He just glanced at her with poorly amused eyes.

Soon, the redhead was seated in a small, yet fashionable, black leather chair with a tray of coffee, a sugar jar and a little can of milk in front of her, it was put straight in between her and Kaiba.

"Now, Jounouchi, let's get this interview over with." Kaiba leaned back into his comfortable-looking chair and glanced expectantly at her.

"Uhum, I'll immediately begin. The recession has hit every corporation in the country, how are your stockholders coping with the losses?" While Shizuka was talking, she grabbed the cup of black coffee and brought it to her lips.

"Our stocks are having a minor setback but we aren't worried. Kaiba Corp provides entertainment to every class of society and we are quite affordable. We are actually planning to release a new type of videogame that already has a large fan base, or so our studies show. This situation is remarkable but certainly temporarily." The sun was shining radiantly and he seemed almost angelic, with devilish intentions she quickly added.

Shizuka nodded in understanding and gulped a bit of the strong coffee down. Her eyes widened to an unknown extent when the sizzling hot liquid touched her tongue and nearly burned a hole down her throat. This peculiarly tasted like acid and she knew she shouldn't have come to Kaiba, he was going to assassinate her with his coffee.

Noticing her reaction, Kaiba smirked slightly and pushed the sugar jar into her direction, mocking her a bit when he drank a large quantity of his coffee without even flinching.

Recovering rapidly, Shizuka continued her interview. She wouldn't be beaten by that stupid moneybags.

"What about the factory that will be closed down in Okinawa and moved to a badly paid region in the west of China, Kaiba-sama? Do you have any comments about that?" His eyes narrowed and she knew she hit a sore point.

"A matter of fact, yes, I have. Not one of the 1000 employees who work in Okinawa shall be fired. Indeed, it is true that we will move the manufacturing section of the factory to China but we will keep the scientific section of the factory. We are planning to re-school our employees for commercial and scientific purposes." His recuperation set her aback, but she smiled back at his triumphant smirk.

"What about the thrall-like working circumstances in the region of China? Aren't you afraid of the human rights movements?"

"I'm glad to know you even understand the word thrall, Jounouchi-san. Apparently a bad vocabulary and grammar don't run through the veins of your blood, unlike your brother."

"At least something different than ice runs through my veins, Kaiba-sama."

"It sure isn't a good fashion sense." He remarked dryly.

"Everything's better than a trench coat fetish." She took it that she won this round and recommenced the interview.

"Now would you mind answering my question, Kaiba-sama?" Kaiba grimaced at the disappointing reaction and shoved his chair closer to his desk.

"Our company has always and will always respect the rights of the human being. We will not long for our Chinese employees to work incredibly long days and perform exhausting work. On the contrary, Kaiba Corp wants to set an example towards all the other companies in the region. We will pay our employees reasonable salaries and grant them all the social securities they, and every other person, deserves."

The redhead in the pink jogging suit poured two spoons of sugar into her coffee and added a little bit cream just to create a delightful flavor. Taking a small sip, she was contented by the final result. Finally the awful taste of the poisonous coffee traded place for something more sweet. Absentmindedly the youngest Jounouchi sibling wondered if shoving sugar through Kaiba's throat would make him sweeter.

"Will there be any people laid off as a result by the economical crisis?" Shizuka crossed one leg over the other and held her coffee cup firmly in her right hand.

"No, we also won't reduce our production capacity because of the crisis. Because our company is considering to launch a new European line of merchandise and games, we of course have our American clients, who are still very interested in most of our games. Basically, we don't have any worries about the recession at the moment." He looked actually quite handsome with that smirk plastered onto his lips, Shizuka confessed to herself.

"Good to hear, Kaiba-sama." Being polite always paid off in the end, unfortunately that logic couldn't compete with Kaiba's cold glaring eyes.

"Anyways, what about the Tokinaya-scandal? Your corporation has been put underneath a lot of pressure because of the fraud in one of your daughter-companies. I have heard from reliable sources that he was directly linked to your vice-president."

"You did your homework well, Jounouchi-san. I have no comments about the scandal because my company had already distanced itself from that corrupt Tokinaya before his fraud became public. I'll settle the rest of this matter in court. Yashido-san was fired as soon as the police discovered this unfortunate mishap." His confidence to remain silent about the details of the matter aggravated her but she respected his wish.

Kaiba scratched his chin briefly before leaning with his elbows on the edge of his desk again, she just gulped another sip of coffee down. Her hazel eyes shone brightly because of all the light and she briefly had to divert her attention, not able to take the sunrays anymore. Shizuka asked Kaiba a couple more of less important questions including the relationship between his company and other entertainment-giants. At the end, she rose from the comfortable leather chair to shut her camera off.

"Thank you for the interview, Kaiba-sama. It was highly intriguing." Shizuka complimented the tall CEO, who just curtly nodded in response.

"I'm surprised that you know words that consist out of more than four syllables, Jounouchi-san." He just couldn't resist to put her down like that.

"At least I don't want to poison my guests." She sneered back at him in manner of a suitable retort.

"Miho just makes a strong coffee. You just can't take the heat." Shizuka was almost completely leaning over his desk and he sat extremely close to his glass desk, they didn't realize their closeness until she exhaled lowly.

Taking a step back, she replied offended, "I'm not an iceberg, unlike others." Her hazel orbs glanced at him directly to corroborate her opinion.

"Pointed at the person with at least four official fan clubs." Fuming at her personal attack, Kaiba was going to gloat with his popularity amongst the female population.

"I bet you get a lot of fan letters from asylum patients, because only insane individuals would ever consider to write you!" This wasn't going to end well.

He trotted from behind his desk towards her, his cobalt eyes resembling the crashing waves of the ocean and his strides, although dignified, betrayed his true emotions. Kaiba now stood next to her and she regarded him with caution, afraid she might have caused that cold interior to melt and his sanity to snap. She flung a few strands of long reddish brown over her shoulder and placed her hand onto her hip.

The brunette bended down a bit and his face was now extremely close to hers. Shizuka swallowed down a lump in her throat.

"Thanks for this enjoyable tongue twister, Jounouchi." Was that a **sexual** innuendo?

Shizuka felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she looked at her feet, even back at the Battle City tournament she hadn't felt this intimidated by this unpredictable personality.

"Cat got your tongue, little Jounouchi?" He laughed a short laugh and chuckled slightly when she snapped her head into his direction.

"It was my pleasure to take care of your entertainment, Kaiba-sama. I hope we'll have such an enjoyable verbal joust again." Her words seemed sincere but in reality the youngest Jounouchi sibling wished to never see this horrid man again.

Kaiba handed her the black handbag and smirked at the statement, before turning around again, his trench coat billowing with the movement.

"Miho will escort you to the elevator. Sayonara, Jounouchi-san." Huffing at his meaningless goodbye, she took her leave.

Unaware that cobalt eyes were looking secretly at her firm **ass. **–After all, CEO's were allowed to have their perversions as well, right?-

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"He's such a complete asshole, Ryou-kun!" A certain redhead whined when the scent of noodles with fresh vegetables filled her nostrils.

"I told you so, Shizuka-chan. I'm just glad you weren't dragged out of his office by security." The white-haired man commented before adding some spices to the nurturing food.

"You know I won't go down without a fight." She lowered her head and placed it onto her crossed elbows, peeking from underneath her long curly locks at the man behind the cooker.

Ryou laughed loudly at her words, placed the bowl of noodles onto the table and turned the gas from the cooker off.

"I'm going to type the interview tomorrow, send the sketch to Takeru-sama and take a long break from writing, or at least until the annual Domino city celebration." Shizuka took a small bite from the noodles and complimented her roommate.

"Anyways, I never want to see that stupid moneybags again!" She reminded Ryou faintly of a stubborn child but he smiled that thought away and motioned her to eat.

"I highly doubt you'll never have to glance at Kaiba again. After all, he's always in every commercial from Kaiba Corp." Groaning, Shizuka glared at the white-haired man, who lifted his arms in an apologizing manner.

"Stupid moneybags, can't we turn off the television then?" Shaking his head, hair bouncing with the movement, Ryou took a bite from his homemade food.

"By the way, remember me to go shop tomorrow. That dress I told you about is finally for sale with discount." Her smile illuminated the room and Shizuka slurped her noodles down.

"Just smashing, Shizuka-chan." Her roommate said before finishing his first bowl of noodles.

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Review to make this sanity-deprived girl happy.


	3. Bourgeoisie

The Questioning Game

The feedback is greatly appreciated, I'll try to make this chapter even better than the last one.

Chapter Summary: Seeing her at a private party of the governor surprised him greatly. Offering her an escape surprised her greatly. Was that an accident? Was that a flash? Oh dear.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't bitch

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C'est beau la bourgeoisie qui boit le champagne

Seto Kaiba **hated** private parties.

The whole festival for the annual celebration of Domino city alone was quite innerving, but the fact that he had to go parading around in an expensive Armani suit just to defend the glamorous name of Kaiba Corp was even more agitating. Especially since every woman he passed, married or unmarried, smothered him with pleasantries and seductive wordplays.

The governor just tried to persuade the tall brunette in more charity events, which would greatly improve his own social position no doubt, but he saw right through the façade of caring politician and understood this was just a way to climb the social and political stairway. Seto Kaiba **didn't** do charity, he **had** his own freaking organization to take care of those issues.

So aside from those obstacles, the CEO of the most profitable entertainment company stood next to the buffet table, with a glass of expensive French champagne in his right hand and his trustworthy iPhone in the other. His cobalt eyes noted indifferently the percentages in stocks and was quite satisfied with the positive course of his company. Not that he had expected any difference.

Suddenly a smaller figure was flung against him and he turned around to glare at the person who even dared to interrupt his small moment of triumph against Wall Street. Seto Kaiba was surprised to see a ball of reddish brown hair and a flash of white pressed against him before 'it' nearly fell against the table.

"Well, well, well, Jounouchi. I'm wondering how you got passed security." He resisted an amused chuckle and turned around to face her completely.

Bewildered, the young woman looked up at him, hazel sparkling through curtains of reddish brown, before she huffed and remained her balance.

"Secrecy of my profession, Kaiba-sama." She straightened the fabric of her white dress and grabbed a small crab cake from the tray on the large table with the pink table cloth.

"Heh, I didn't realize the governor tolerated low-ranked journalists." Kaiba allowed a small smirk to play with the corners of his lips while Shizuka nearly choked in her appetizer.

"Excuse me?! Please don't tell me, you haven't read my most famous article in the Times yet." Insulted by his mere presence, the youngest Jounouchi relative grabbed another appetizer and stuffed it down her throat.

"I must've missed it. Don't eat like a dog when you're with me, I'd like to maintain my reputation." He sneered at her poor etiquette.

"If.." –munch- "I don't eat it…" –More stuffing sounds- "then they'll just throw it…" –Swallows- "all away." Kaiba rose a chestnut brown eyebrow before sipping from his champagne.

"You're just lucky that you didn't make me spill any of this champagne on my expensive suit." She glanced at him and placed her hand on her hip.

"Oh please, I'm just happy to see you in something different than a trench coat." Kaiba **did** feel kind of naked without his beloved trench coat.

"Likewise, did your jogging suit go to the dry cleaner?" Glaring at him, Shizuka rubbed her hands together to get rid of the crumbs.

"It seemed more appropriate than a regular jogging suit." He merely sighed and placed his empty glass of champagne onto the table, wrinkling the pink cloth.

"What's your business here anyways? Annoying the mayor with some questions about the local history? Or does Takahani-san wishes another short interview with the executive officer of the electricity department?" Someone in a charcoal black suit passed by them and gave them a weird look, they both glared at him.

"No, Takeru-sama was actually quite excited about our little interview. Anyways, I might write an article about this boring garden party if I find the encouragement." Shizuka remarked before grabbing a glass of orange juice and gulping it down.

"Don't spill on your dress, I can imagine it has cost a fortune for someone of _your_ standards."

"Yes, daddy. Can I have another crab cake?" She smiled innocently at his grueling expression and leaned with her elbows on the table, facing it with her back.

"Don't mock me, Jounouchi. It's worse enough I have to actually attend to this abomination of a party, put up with your companionship and still manage to not drown myself in that fake fountain." Chuckling lightly, the redhead glanced towards the bright sky.

"C'est la vie, Kaiba-sama. At least you can get this over with in one day, I still have to write about it and try to sell it to an interested newspaper or magazine." Kaiba followed her gaze with his own eyes before concentrating back on the approaching CEO of a rivaling corporation.

"You're absolutely right, Jounouchi. Let's get the fuck out of here." Once again, she nearly choked in a crab cake and snapped her head in his direction.

"Say what?"

"Let's continue this intriguing conversation in a distant café or something decent." Disbelief was readable on her features and she wondered what the hell happened to the humanoid iceberg.

"What are you plotting?" A vibrant breeze picked up some strands of their hair and toyed with it before whisking away.

"Listen, I don't want to converse with Katsuka-san or whatever the fuck that old pathetic excuse for a CEO is called. Now let's leave this fucking party and I might buy you something eatable, understood?" Nodding meekly, Shizuka complied to his wish, but the prospect of robbing Kaiba of some change was a nice future goal.

The woman in her ankle-length white dress with spaghetti straps and the guy in the deep blue Armani suit were suspiciously quiet and inching closer and almost imperceptibly towards the exit of this secluded garden. The place was surrounded by majestically made dark iron fences, wrought with curly and flower patterns.

The other side of the garden was shut off from the world with a large and unnaturally long evergreen hedge. Kaiba noticed how the security guards, in their obviously rental suits, were sneaking around with some overrated models and decided that when they drank their last beer can they could escape this ridiculous excuse of a party. Shizuka just followed him while randomly grabbing an appetizer from the trays those men in costumes were carrying once in a while.

"Listen Jounouchi, make sure we are unseen, because if any one of these idiotic business men see us, we're screwed."

"Correction, you're screwed." She retorted back and nibbled on her small spring roll.

"I'm willing to drag you down with me." Shizuka glared at back of the tall brunette in front of her and mumbled an inaudible fine.

The security guards left their original position in order to achieve more beer bottles, Kaiba saw this as an excellent opportunity to leave this awful experience behind him while the much smaller woman followed him, crunching on a mini spring roll. No one had noticed their sudden disappearance and the party continued as if Kaiba Seto and Jounouchi Shizuka hadn't showed up at all. The governor on the other hand was frantically looking for another wealthy victim to leech upon with all the charity funds he was maintaining. Another interesting view upon the life of the rich and famous.

"So where exactly are you taking me, Kaiba-sama?" She tried to look over his shoulder but failed miserably due to her tiny frame.

"It's very tempting to just dump you here, Jounouchi, but I intend to hold my promise of an interesting conversation with you. We're going to somewhere nice." Fuming at the first part of his sentence, the redhead crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I hope for your sake that they have spring rolls." He just rolled his eyes and continued trotting forward, taking a turn left at the corner before bringing her to a pleasant café.

The large window was made from darker green glass, giving it a more intimate atmosphere. Her hazel eyes noticed the crimson color of the, preferably, velvet curtains and she found the café very endearing already. The door had something very oriental to it and when Kaiba turned the knob and pushed it open, a calming bell sound was heard.

"I didn't even know this existed…" Shizuka murmured softly before entering behind him.

"Not a lot of people do, that's why I like it so much. Let's choose a table and order." The blue-eyed man ordered her before sitting down on a table for two.

The interior was very sober, mahogany wooden tables with ebony wooden chairs and a few ancillary items such as flowers and stone vases with inscriptions and drawings. The color of the walls was a warm shade of green and on the other side it was faced with soothing brown. Shizuka realized why this place was so attractive to Kaiba, it was very pleasing for the eyes. There was some music transcending down onto the guests from the speakers in the corners.

Annoyed by her constant glances at the area, the CEO sneered at her. "Are you going to stare at the room or look at the menu, Jounouchi?"

She snapped her head into his direction, grabbed the menu and flipped the few pages of beverages. "A regular bottle of mineral water will do. Oh and I want a plate of spring rolls as well." The redhead licked her lips at the thought of the appetizers.

Kaiba just looked down and made his own order, he indicated the woman from behind the bar to come to them and he said what they wanted to drink and in Shizuka's case, eat.

The redhead put one leg over the other and smiled softly at the person in front of her, she was grateful that she was able to leave that horrid party with those, very soon, drunk individuals and high-maintenance models.

"What are you smiling at, Jounouchi?" He formed a bridge with his fingers and leaned on them with his chin.

Sighing loudly, she retorted at his agitated behavior, "This is why you'll never get a girlfriend, Kaiba-sama. You don't respect girls."

"Who made you the expert on dating matters? As far as I can see, there's no ring at your finger. I also don't recall seeing Otogi and Hiroto fluttering around you anymore." At loss of words for a moment, Shizuka crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised her chin.

Chuckling at her wordless reply, Kaiba smoothened the vest of his costume before continuing sitting in his earlier position.

"For your information, your secretary is going to get married to Hiroto-san." Shizuka could read the recognition on his face and smiled slightly when he huffed out that he knew such matters and that he also didn't care.

"What about Otogi? Did he finally realize you're nothing special?" Ouch, that one hurt. Time to retaliate.

"If I wanted I could still wrap him around my finger but I'm not in the mood for a playboy. How's the mental institu… I mean your fan club." Smiling mischievously, she noted in the corners of her eyes that a fairly large person was going to sit behind her.

Great, now she sat **squished** between an obese person and a table to separate her from Domino's most dangerous CEO.

"Feeling _well_, Jounouchi?" He joked at her current situation and decided to let the fan club comment slide.

"Very funny, Kaiba-sama." Then the waitress arrived with their drinks and the plate of mini spring rolls.

* * *

Their conversation went fairly decent considering she was **talking** to a man who would be capable of melting his computer with his brain. Their range of subjects varied from politics, to economics, to, and yes this amazed her greatly, small talk about their own personal lives. Maybe she would be able to complete the magical task of figuring his sexuality out. _Excelsior._

Shizuka giggled lightly when Kaiba was joking about a private teacher he had a long time ago and how he managed to convince her that the house was haunted. She held her hand in front of her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter but failing miserably. Meanwhile, the CEO took a sip from his black tea and couldn't help the smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"How is Mokuba-san anyways. I haven't heard a lot about him lately. Seeing as the press loves to fawn over him as much as they love to do that with you." A small sigh escaped his lips and he placed the cup back onto the saucer.

"He's on a honeymoon. He got married a while back to that American girl." By the sound of his voice, the redhead would've guessed he recently passed away instead of getting married.

"Uhm.. I'm sorry?" She shifted into a more comfortable position, her legs sliding against the light fabric of her white dress.

"Don't be, he's managing himself fairly well." This time it was her turn to take a sip from her bottle of water.

His cobalt eyes glanced at the nearly empty plate of spring rolls before turning their attention back upon her. "I can't believe you almost devoured the entire plate already."

"I'm a growing girl, I need to eat." He rose an eyebrow at her statement and allowed himself to chuckle.

"Manners, Jounouchi, manners and etiquette aren't given to you apparently."

"I never heard anyone complain about such matters before." She shoved her chair closer to the table in order to get some more breathing room.

"And still you're so skinny…" He muttered before shoving his own chair closer and taking a new gulp of tea.

"High metabolism and a fitness-obsessed friend are very reliable sources to maintain my figure." Shizuka smiled at the man in front of her and reached out for the last spring roll.

**Freeze**

Current situation: Shizuka is almost completely leaning over the table to grasp the last appetizer. Kaiba is sitting extremely close to the table with his fingers forming a bridge and with his chin positioned right on top of them. In the corner of the room there are a bunch of photo-crazy tourists from Okinawa and they're fooling around with their digital camera and their high-tech cell phones, and taking secret pictures of their idol, Kaiba. The guy, sitting behind Shizuka, is shoving his chair backwards in order to walk over to the restroom. All this while the song of The Pussycat Dolls was beginning to play through the speakers.

_Can you already feel what's going to happen?_

**Defrost**

Shizuka's greedy fingers were curled around the spring roll when the person behind her pushed her forward, catapulting her body almost over the wooden table. The plate nearly fell of the table, but the spring roll managed to jump out of her grasp.

_Tip top, drip drop, bottles pop.. Lips lock._

There was the sound of a bottle bursting as it was flung onto the ground. Then you had Shizuka's face pressed against Kaiba's. The mumble of an apology from the person who pushed her against the CEO and then you had a flash in the near environment.

Wait… That can't be good.

"Jounouchi.. Get your lips off my lips." Becoming as red as a tomato, Shizuka seated herself back on the chair.

Kaiba briefly touched his lips with his fingers before looking at the direction of the flash. He needed some serious damage control.

He walked over towards the crazy girls, conversed with them before turning in an odd shade of pale. He retreated his wallet out of his pocket, but they shook their heads. They showed them their cell phones and Shizuka could only guess if their cell phones were able to connect with the internet or not. She sincerely hoped the latter. She saw the CEO huffing and could nearly read the words of 'lawsuit' and 'lawyer' on his lips. To her dismay, she feared the damage had already been done. Soon he returned to her, his face still pale except for his cheeks, which were a lovely shade of red.

"I'm… so.. so terribly.. sorry, Kaiba-sama." His cobalt eyes narrowed into slits and he whispered furiously some inaudible words.

"I beg your pardon?" Shizuka squeaked out, while she was trying to avoid his gaze.

"Those pictures were on the net in matter of seconds. Once that picture comes out, the whole city.. No, the whole country will suspect us to be an item." She could hear his muscles tensing and her own heart beating more rapidly.

"Just smashing…" She forced out, mimicking the catch phrase of her beloved roommate.

* * *

Review to make this sanity-deprived girl happy.


End file.
